I feel like having a link fest today. Something I should do a little more of, especially with my local compadres. Austin Sound has more Roky Erickson/Black Angels details , and some new local reviews . Sonic Itch has two seperate ACL reviews , Big Diction's got Shearwater & Jungle Rockers , Party Ends has a new look , Both Sides likes Lykke , Recycled Love picks their top 25 indie breakup son...
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Roky Erickson & The Explosives(Great American Music Hall, SF, 3/1/07)This is a moment I've been waiting for about 15 or 16 years, ever since I picked up vinyl copies of I Think Of Demons at the main branch of my public library and of Gremlins Have Pictures at one of the mainstay record stores of my youth. I've been waiting for it ever since I was struck all those years ago by the combination, t...
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Palm Pictures is releasing a DVD about rock/psychedelic legend Roky Erickson on July 10th. Erickson was the force behind the revolutionary “13th Floor Elevators” in the sixties. Roky's tragic story that included drug binges, schizophrenia, and stay at Rusk hospital for the criminally insane is illustrated in the new film. You're Gonna Miss Me claims to "reveal the shocking & triumphant truth b
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Well, one more Roky Erickson song before we call a halt to October. This is actually not his scariest song (That is "Bloody Hammer" which I think is about a haunted insane asylum and is actually too horrifying for me to listen to very often), but I think it's a great one to have playing in your brain when you're out trick-or-treating. Or handing out candy. Or walking on a deserted path in the ...
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So I was going to call my whole Halloween project to a halt because Sunday October 21 was the fourth anniversary of my late wife Kirsten's death from breast cancer. (I never say "passing" because a)it implies an afterlife she didn't believe in and b) it just reminds me of farting, which doesn't seem appropriately serious for what actually happened.) So, Kirsten's deathday having passed, I was ...
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The pre-dawn double-header is tied at 0-0 in the bottom of the 13th. Batter up!Roky's got a hammer. Uh-oh...Swing and a miss!strike 1.Plunked!Roky wants to be a head shrinker. Calling Dr. Roky!Error!strike 2.Sent to the showers!Roky sends you to the attic. The demon is waiting.strike 3...You're out!!Baseball the way Roky likes to play... He grew up reading horror comics such as Foul Play! (orig...
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Madness, that’s what the more up tight puritanical forces would call those of us who embrace the terror and horror… really guys and girls it’s that we are either afraid of or have resigned ourselves to death, even the little death… but madness it is, cause we are all terminal.. and I bet that the Buddy Holly of Psychotronic Music Roky Erickson knows that better than most of us. Psychedelic
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Just cause I am such a fan and this is such a great song.
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Just heard the most amazing "Sound Opinions podcast":http://www.soundopinions.org/shownotes/2007/082407/shownotes.html about "Roky Erickson":http://www.furious.com/perfect/roky.html. What an amazing life this man had and continues to have, absolutely harrowing and also truly inspiring. I believe the podcast was inspired by a new "documentary":http://minneapolisfuckingrocks.blogspot.com/2007/07/...
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I couldn't resist following "Walking With a Ghost" with another even more minimal song about walking, Roky Erickson's "I Walked With a Zombie."In case you have trouble following along, I'll include the complete lyrics:I walked with a zombie (3x)Last Night.That's it. Is it about the movie of the same name (which airs tonight on TCM, by the way)(and which I blogged about "here":http://brendanhal...
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It's probably possible to make all 31 days consist of Roky Erikson tracks, but I'll try to limit it to 15 or so. I've never understood why Roky gets so overlooked around Halloween, since he sings so convincingly about all things creepy. I guess there's kind of a voyeuristic quality to this--Roky Erikson has been institutionalized and apparently has a pretty tenuous grip on mental health, and s...
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By Kurt LoderDoing time in Hell with Roky Erickson, the great lost star of '60s psychedelia.Roky Erickson in 1967 (Palm Pictures)Texas singer and songwriter Roky Erickson, a man half-shrouded in myth and legend, is back. A lot of people may not be aware of it, though. A lot of people don't even know who he is. How can this be?Roky's best-known song, without a doubt,is "You're Gonna Miss Me," w...
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This guy made some great music..... in between trips to the Hospital for the Criminally Insane....
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Damn, I love this album. I stumbled across it after listening to the 13th Floor Elevators for years. In case you do not know, the 13th Floor Elevators were a really awesome psychedelic/r&b/folk band from Texas in the 1960's. After a decade long hiatus (including a long stay in a mental hospital) Roky Erickson formed this band in the late 70's. This is a terrible analogy, but I would describe t...
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On a recent road trip which stretched from the border of New Brunswick, Canada to New York City and then back to Boston, I desperately needed to find some inspirational road music to keep me going. One pleasure was digging deep into the goldmine of great material by Roky Erickson: The ass-kicking Don't Slander Me in particular kept things moving along, as did The Evil One (credited to Roky Eri...
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